AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

AXT Inc (NASDAQ:AXTI)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $45.46, but opened at $50.99. AXT shares last traded at $56.4770, with a volume of 7,718,640 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on AXTI shares. Wedbush boosted their price objective on AXT from $8.50 to $28.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Northland Securities set a $20.00 price objective on AXT in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised AXT from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 14th. Craig Hallum reissued a “buy” rating on shares of AXT in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, UBS Group set a $35.00 price objective on AXT in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.80.

AXT Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -112.80 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $38.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.14.

AXT (NASDAQ:AXTI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The semiconductor company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $23.04 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.24 million. AXT had a negative net margin of 24.07% and a negative return on equity of 9.50%. On average, equities research analysts predict that AXT Inc will post -0.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Morris S. Young sold 159,536 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.32, for a total transaction of $6,911,099.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,482,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $107,521,886.16. This represents a 6.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jesse Chen sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.13, for a total value of $706,950.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 123,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,825,833.56. This trade represents a 10.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 502,278 shares of company stock valued at $21,196,754. 8.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AXT

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AXTI. Acadian Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in AXT by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 293,818 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $412,000 after buying an additional 8,039 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning bought a new position in AXT in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $86,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new position in AXT in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $42,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in AXT by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 22,952 shares of the semiconductor company’s stock worth $103,000 after buying an additional 2,540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. bought a new position in AXT in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $112,000. 49.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

AXT Company Profile

AXT, Inc (NASDAQ: AXTI) is a global supplier of compound and single-element semiconductor substrates, offering a range of materials critical for high-performance electronic and optoelectronic devices. Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Fremont, California, AXT specializes in the development, manufacture and distribution of wafers composed of gallium arsenide (GaAs), indium phosphide (InP), gallium nitride (GaN) and other compound semiconductor materials. These substrates serve as the foundational platforms for devices used in data communications, wireless infrastructure, advanced computing, consumer electronics and photovoltaic applications.

AXT’s product portfolio encompasses a variety of wafer sizes, dopant concentrations and crystal orientations, tailored to meet the precise specifications of its customers.